Topsoil on a soccer field

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Question from rita, a student:

a park foreman decides that a soccer field needs 4 inches of topsoil. soccer field is 100 feet by 250 feet.
1 truckload is 5 cubic yards. how many truckloads do we need to order. i keep confusing myself with formulas. please explain the steps to me
thank you

Hi Rita,

You need consistent units and I suggest that you convert the field dimensions to yards. There are 3 feet in a yard and 36 inches in a yard so the topsoil you need is 100/3 yards by 250/3 yards and 4/36 yards deep. Hence the volume of topsoil you need is

100/3 × 250/3 × 4/36 cubic yards.

Each truckload is 5 cubic yards so divide the value you obtain for the line above by 5 to determine the number of truckloads of topsoil required.

Penny

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